BISMARCK, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – On the evening of Aug. 15, the North Dakota Highway Patrol (NDHP) partnered with the Bismarck Police Department (BPD) to conduct a joint traffic detail utilizing the NDHP airplane to monitor area traffic stops and track fleeing motorists, if needed.

An officer with the Bismarck Police Department initiated a traffic stop on a motorcyclist that fled. The aircraft monitored the motorcyclist as he drove around Bismarck and Mandan. The driver of the motorcycle abandoned the motorcycle and entered the passenger side of a vehicle. A traffic stop was initiated on this vehicle. The vehicle stopped and the female driver got out of the vehicle; the passenger then got into the driver’s seat and drove off.

The vehicle was tracked and monitored as it proceeded around Bismarck and Mandan. The vehicle came to a stop along North Bell Street in Bismarck. NDHP troopers then deployed tire disabling spike strips along the street. BPD Officers initiated contact with the driver of the vehicle as it was parked. The vehicle then fled south on North Bell Street and drove over the tire disabling spike strips resulting in the front tires being disabled.

The vehicle drove to the area of East Boulevard Avenue and 26th Street in Bismarck where the vehicle stopped, and the driver taken into custody. The driver was identified as Brandon Schweitzer, (32, Bismarck).

Schweitzer faces charges from the Bismarck Police Department stemming from this incident. This incident remains under investigation by the Bismarck Police Department and the North Dakota Highway Patrol.